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Basketball Grad School for 3 Ivy League Stars

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — One month after finishing an exceptional basketball career at Harvard, Jeremy Lin was playing for a team sponsored by a water sealant company.

This is a part of the N.B.A. dream most people do not see, a part without mascots or cheerleaders or pep bands. At the Portsmouth Invitational, a predraft camp for 64 of the nation’s top college seniors, no one is defined by team colors. That is good for Lin, whose Ivy League roots could otherwise leave him overlooked among players from North Carolina, Michigan State and Connecticut.

As Lin drove the baseline and made a difficult layup in his first game Wednesday night, the public-address announcer recited his name and university to the pro scouts, agents and fans in the high school gym. He accentuated the word Harvard, perhaps to draw attention to the unusual.

In five of the last eight years, no Ivy League players attended this four-day, invitation-only showcase. But this year there are three — Lin, and Cornell’s Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote — giving their conference as many representatives as the Big East.

“I can’t remember a time that we’ve had three Ivy guys at the same time,” said Marty Blake, the N.B.A.’s director of scouting. “We’d get one or two from Penn or Princeton, but not much beyond that.”

Portsmouth is not a camp for first-round draft picks. It is a camp for those on the fringe. Six of the 64 players from last year’s camp were drafted, all in the second round.

But for players from the Ivy League, where there are no athletic scholarships and little national television exposure, the camp is a rare opportunity. No Ivy League player has been drafted since Jerome Allenof Pennsylvania was selected 49th over all by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995.

Lin, Wittman and Foote are long shots to be drafted this year, but all are considered pro prospects. Their presence at this camp — combined with Cornell’s run to the Round of 16 in the N.C.A.A. tournament, the first Ivy team to advance that far since 1979 — has signified a shift in the perception of Ivy League basketball.

Photo

Jeremy Lin, right, was a first-team all-Ivy League guard for the Crimson the last two years.Credit
Stephanie Oberlander for The New York Times

“Obviously, in the last couple of years, the caliber of Ivy League players has changed,” said the Washington Wizards assistant Randy Wittman, a former first-round draft pick who also happens to be Ryan Wittman’s father. “These guys wouldn’t have been invited to the camp unless they were looked at as players who can reach the N.B.A.”

The former Senator Bill Bradley, who starred at Princeton before his Hall of Fame career with the Knicks began in 1967, remains the most well-known Ivy-to-N.B.A. (with a detour to Oxford) success story.

But the flag bearer of the modern era is probably center Chris Dudley, who graduated from Yale in 1987. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and had a 16-year career.

“You have a hurdle to overcome,” Dudley, who is running for governor of Oregon, said in a telephone interview. “You have to prove you belong. There’s a perception that you’re a team player, but not as athletic and maybe not as capable of carrying it over to the next level.”

In 1990, Walter Palmer, who went to Dartmouth, was chosen by the Utah Jazz with the 33rd overall pick, but he played just 48 career games. Allen, who is now Penn’s coach, averaged 2.9 points a game over two N.B.A. seasons. The former Penn guard Matt Maloney played for six seasons after signing with Houston as an undrafted free agent in 1996.

“There are very few guys from the Ivy League that have made it, and it’s because of the power conferences,” the Orlando Magic assistant general manager Dave Twardzik said. “The Ivy League players are at a disadvantage in terms of television exposure. But these days, scouting is so sophisticated that if you’re good enough, you’ll get a look.”

Lin, Wittman and Foote have skills that would translate well to the N.B.A., but they are also followed by questions about their strength and athleticism.

The 6-foot-3 Lin, who was a first-team all-Ivy League guard for the Crimson the last two years, is a skillful passer and he attacks the rim well. He said he did not consider the N.B.A. a realistic dream until recently. Over his first two games at the Portsmouth Invitational, he averaged 9 points and 5.5 assists.

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Ryan Wittman was the Ivy League's player of the year and led his team into the Round of 16.Credit
Stephanie Oberlander for The New York Times

“I guess I have to prove to myself whether I have a shot or not,” Lin said. “Right now I’m just trying to take this all in and not put too much pressure on myself.”

Wittman, a 6-7 shooting guard, and Foote, a 7-foot center, came to the tournament with a bit more recognition, because of the Big Red’s N.C.A.A. tournament run, which ended with a loss to top-seeded Kentucky in a regional semifinal.

Wittman, the Ivy League’s player of the year, scored 17.5 points a game for Cornell. He is an excellent shooter with the size that professional teams covet.

Foote is the most raw of the three, but as the two-time Ivy League defensive player of the year, he may have the most potential. He made 11 of 13 field-goal attempts and averaged 11 points and 6.5 rebounds in his first two games here, and has good footwork for a player of his height.

“There’s a stigma that we’re just smart guys who can’t play,” Foote said, “but I definitely feel like we’re turning that around.”

Ryan Blake, the N.B.A.’s assistant director of scouting, said Wittman or Lin could become the first Ivy League player to be drafted in 15 years.

“But it’s not just about the second round, it’s about opportunity,” Blake said. “If they don’t get picked, both of them are going to have their numbers dialed by N.B.A. teams immediately. From there, you just see what happens.”

Of course, if professional basketball options eventually turn fleeting, all three players will have Ivy League degrees. Wittman and Foote are applied economics and management majors, and Lin is majoring in economics. But Foote said that if he entered the white-collar world, he would feel like many soon-to-be college graduates.

“I have no idea what I’d want to do,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on April 11, 2010, on page SP5 of the New York edition with the headline: Basketball Grad School for 3 Ivy League Stars. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe